State Farm Issues Grant to Mansfield University

Representatives of State Farm Insurance were at Mansfield University (MU) on Oct. 4 to present a $50,000 grant for improvements in technology and teaching capabilities in the Computer Information Science (CIS) department.

MU said a laptop lecture classroom in Elliott Hall already has been outfitted with the funding. Updates to a networking computer lab that will allow MU students to learn software development for Apple IOS and Google Android mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Nexus 7 are underway. Instruction in mobile device programming will begin in the spring 2013 semester.

This is the second grant the CIS department has received from State Farm, said MU. The first, in 2004, funded the construction of the networking lab in Elliott Hall that is now being improved with the mobile technology capabilities. Mansfield CIS students have been recruited as interns at State Farm’s Bloomington, Ill., headquarters for 15 years, with many being hired after graduation. State Farm is looking to expand its recruiting efforts beyond CIS graduates to work in a variety capacities at their offices in the Northeast.